First Family Insurance, a local INC 5000 company with over 200 employees in 4 different states, is looking to hire 50 new employees in our corporate headquarters, located in Fort Myers on Tuesday, August 14th at 5:30pm.

After a very up and down market for the past 6 years, recent law changes have opened up more opportunities and we are in the best time to be in the insurance business! As of October 1st, we will have a slew of new plans to sell to clients, and we need employees to handle them.

Positions available range from administrative staff to enrollment agents and customer service representatives. Must have a high school diploma or GED and clean background. We hire and train new agents after passing the state exam. The starting pay is $15 an hour, all the way up to $30 depending on position and performance.

To learn more and apply, you must attend their upcoming job fair, this Tuesday August 14th at 5:30pm at our corporate office located at7800 University Pointe Dr in Fort Myers.

“The affordable care act did not live up to its promise to America,” says Tyler McClosky, Chief Operating Officer for First Family Insurance. “But now, for the first time in years, American’s will finally have the choice and options for better individual Health Insurance coverage. This is a huge win for Americans and our industry!”

Trump Administration Delivers on Promise of More Affordable Health Insurance Options. HHS final rule on short-term, limited-duration insurance brings more flexibility and choices to consumers. On Wednesday, the departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury issued a final rule to help Americans struggling to afford health coverage find new, more affordable options. The rule allows for the sale and renewal of short-term, limited-duration plans that cover longer periods than the previous maximum period of less than three months. This action will help increase choices for Americans faced with escalating premiums and dwindling options in the individual insurance market.

Before President Obama left office, he and his administration took a hard stance on all plans that were not part of ‘Obamacare’ For millions of American’s who relied on Short-Term Major Medical plans that lasted for an entire year, his order made these plan only available for a maximum of 90 days. This left millions of more Americans uninsured and sent other plans premiums much higher.

Short-term, limited-duration insurance, which is not required to comply with federal market requirements governing individual health insurance coverage, can provide coverage for people transitioning between different coverage options, such as an individual who is between jobs, or a student taking time off from school, as well as for middle-class families without access to subsidized ACA plans. Access to these plans has become increasingly important as premiums have escalated for individual market plans, and affordable choices for individuals and families have dwindled.

The average monthly premium for an individual in the fourth quarter of 2016 for a short-term, limited-duration policy was approximately $124, compared with $393 for an unsubsidized individual market plan. – source HHS

May 16th, 2018 –Fort Myers, FL: First Family Insurance, Inc., today announced a sizable donation will be made to RIP Medical Debt, a charity that locates, buys, and forgives medical debt in the USA.The donation is slated to address the medical debt accumulated by veterans and young families.

“First Family Insurance firmly believes that your family comes first. We know the struggles families deal with to make ends meet, and the terrible toll medical debt can take on a families financials.” said Tyler McClosky, Chief Operations Officer for First Family Insurance.“With this donation, we’re hoping to make life a bit easier for these people, and hopefully, they’re properly covered to protect themselves from any future issues.”

Outstanding medical debt often is bundled into portfolios for sale on the secondary debt market (similar to mortgages). Using sophisticated data analytics, RIP can search medical debt portfolios to pinpoint those bundles most in need of relief. RIP then negotiates to purchase that debt at significantly reduced rates – just pennies on the dollar.

First Family Insurance is just one of a growing number organizations making sizable donations to aid in this worthy cause.News organizations around the nation, including WINK News in Fort Myers, are leading the charge to bring this cause to the masses.Celebrities, like John Oliver (host of Last Week Tonight on HBO), forgave just under $15,000,000 of debt.

“The long lasting impact this donation will make is immeasurable, and almost surreal.” says Tyler McClosky.“It’s amazing to see our staff from around the nation are getting involved to help.It embodies our core values as a company and makes you proud to be part of it.RIP Medical Debt is restoring life across the nation, and we’re proud to say we helped.”

Interested parties looking to make a donation to RIP Medical Debt are encouraged to visit their website, www.RipMedicalDebt.org

Amazon could do a lot to fix the US health-care system – but Walmart could do more. Walmart, the nation’s biggest employer, is trying to redesign how U.S. health care works. It’s one of the few companies that has the power to succeed. (more…)

Amazon is getting into health care. That’s not speculation, at this point. The company hasn’t spoken much about its plans, as it’s still determining the scope through a series of brainstorming sessions with experts in the space, but its hiring trends and recent product development hint strongly at where it could go. (more…)

Health Insurance Carrier Cigna said on Thursday it would buy pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts for about $54 billion, the latest deal in the sector aimed at tackling soaring healthcare costs. The move follows the $69 billion merger of insurer Aetna and drugstore chain CVS Health announced last December, and highlights a sector-wide trend toward deals between companies that do not have directly overlapping operations. The deals seek to lower healthcare costs by bringing under one roof pharmacy and medical claims, and give the combined entities greater leverage in price negotiations with drugmakers. (more…)

Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase on Tuesday announced plans to partner on ways to cut health-care costs and improve services for their U.S. employees. The announcement slammed the shares of multiple companies in the health-care sector.

Together, the three companies employ more than 1.1 million workers.

The three massive companies will launch an independent outfit initially targeting technology solutions, with the intention to be an umbrella firm that would be “free from profit-making incentives.”

Details of the new company were sketchy, with principles of each firm noting that the way it will work remains to be seen. They’re hoping that the sheer size of each firm will help bring the necessary scale and resources to tackle the issue.

“The ballooning costs of healthcare act as a hungry tapeworm on the American economy,” Berkshire CEO Warren Buffett said in a statement. “Our group does not come to this problem with answers. But we also do not accept it as inevitable. Rather, we share the belief that putting our collective resources behind the country’s best talent can, in time, check the rise in health costs while concurrently enhancing patient satisfaction and outcomes.”

Three top executives, one from each company, will take the lead on the project: Investment officer Todd Combs at Berkshire, Marvelle Sullivan Berchtold at J.P. Morgan, and Beth Galetti, a senior vice president at Amazon.

Combs was a hedge fund manager before joining Berkshire in 2010. Berchtold was previously global head of mergers and acquisitions at drugmaker Novartis before joining J.P. Morgan last year, and Galetti served as FedEx’s vice president for planning, engineering and operations before joining Amazon in 2013, according to their LinkedIn profiles.

“The healthcare system is complex, and we enter into this challenge open-eyed about the degree of difficulty,” said Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. “Hard as it might be, reducing healthcare’s burden on the economy while improving outcomes for employees and their families would be worth the effort.”

“Our people want transparency, knowledge and control when it comes to managing their healthcare,” said JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. “The three of our companies have extraordinary resources, and our goal is to create solutions that benefit our U.S. employees, their families and, potentially, all Americans.”

The new company’s goal at first will be to target technology solutions to simplify the health-care system.

“I think it is good news,” Allergan CEO Brent Saunders told CNBC. “The health-care delivery system is antiquated and in dire need of positive disruption. My hope is these three companies light the spark!”

Adam Fein, president of Pembroke Consulting, said it’s “long past time” for employers like these three to force innovation into the health-care system.

“For better or worse, there are warped incentives baked into every aspect of the U.S. health-care system, from medical innovation to care delivery to insurance and benefit management,” Fein told CNBC. “Rather than merely bashing the current system, I hope this new organization can help patients and their physicians make more informed and more cost-effective decisions. Technology will be necessary but not sufficient to make positive changes.”

Analysts echoed the sentiment that the health-care system is outdated and ripe for disruption, paving the way for the new endeavor. However, they cautioned it could take time.

“If this winds up being the low cost provider to make insurance more affordable at employer level, it could wind up being a real disruptive competitor to an industry that has not seen any new players in years/decades,” Jefferies analyst Jared Holz told CNBC. “Not going to call this black swan event yet because there are few details and would be making too many assumptions but it has potential to be.”

Leerink Partners’ Ana Gupte said the comments suggest the leaders view the endeavor as one that’s “complex, challenging and thorny and that will take time to bear fruit.”

Shares of each company were little changed in premarket trading.

However, shares of other leaders in the industry fell sharply. CVS and UnitedHealth each were off about 7 percent in premarket trading and ExpressScripts fell nearly 8 percent and Aetna was down about 3 percent.

The GOP’s new tax bill, which passed Congress on Wednesday afternoon after one last vote in the House of Representatives and will be signed by President Donald Trump, is also a health care bill. The tax bill does at least as much (if not more) to upend Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, than even all of the Trump administration’s thousand cuts to the health law over the past year by repealing the individual mandate. (more…)

Over the weekend, the Senate approved the largest change to the U.S. tax code in 30 years. Lowering taxes for American businesses and families is the heart of President Trump’s plan to boost the economy. What’s being dubbed as the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” the new tax bill will change a lot of things that affect our budgets as a business and as a family. As an insurance agency, the item that stands out in this bill is the repeal of the health insurance mandate.

What the repeal of the health insurance mandate means for you

In the high likelihood of this repeal going into effect, people who elect to not have insurance, or have insurance that meets the federal standard, will no longer be penalized for it. The majority of people that feel forced to buy health insurance, or make above poverty levels of income that disqualify them to receive subsidies that aid in covering the cost of Obamacare insurance, will be the biggest benefactors of this repeal.

“Families ought to be able to make decisions about what they want to buy and what works for them — not the government,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.)

No more tax penalties

The penalty has always been a point of contention to most, as this would negate a large portion of, if not all or potentially causing to owe on, tax returns. Americans can now breath easy, as this means their tax return is no longer held hostage. Placement of this bill into effect would apply to the 2018 tax year that gets filed in 2019. There is no word on retroactively applying this to the 2017 tax year.

Free to shop for health insurance that meets your needs

The repeal of the mandate does not mean people should go without health insurance. Should a medical emergency occur, people should have adequate coverage that provides financial peace of mind over medical expenses. The repeal ultimately gives people the option to get the coverage that fits their personal and financial needs without being forced coverage they would never use. Through the ACA, buyers were forced to get insurance that met the 10 essential benefits. These benefits are:

Rehabilitative and habilitative services (those that help patients acquire, maintain, or improve skills necessary for daily functioning) and devices

Laboratory services

Preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management

Pediatric services, including oral and vision care

This means through the ACA, a single male with no children currently has to pay for coverage for services he would never use, like maternity and newborn care, or pediatric services. With the repeal, the same male can pick and choose what coverage he desires that he could actually use.

The doors are open to get a custom tailored insurance package. Contact First Family Insurance today!

On Sunday, drugstore chain operator CVS Health Corp said it had agreed to acquire Aetna Inc for $69 billion, in what would be this year’s largest corporate acquisition. CVS is one of the nation’s largest pharmacy benefits managers and pharmacy operators. Aetna is one of its oldest health insurers, whose national business ranges from employer healthcare to government plans. CVS is trying to tackle soaring healthcare spending through lower-cost medical services in pharmacies.